Preservation Texas Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 2 3 4 8 10 12 14 16 19 20

Executive Director's Letter Board of Directors Celebrating Virginia McAlester Preservation in Crisis?

Three New Texas Historic Districts New Main Street Communities News in Review The Rio Grande Levee/Border Wall Dabney Hill Freedom Colony Amarillo Helium Plant Notes from the Field

© PRESERVATION TEXAS, Inc. P.O. BOX 12832 AUSTIN, TX 78711 512.472.0102 WWW.PRESERVATIONTEXAS.ORG

Fo u nded in 1985, Preser v at ion Texas is t he st at e w ide advoc a te f or the h i stor ic reso u rces of Texas. Go ver ned by a diverse bo ard of d ire c tor s , Pre s er v at ion Texas is a p r iv at e, member-su p p o r t ed nonp ro fit or ga niz a tion.

I n ad dit ion t o it s annu al l ist of Most E ndangered P l aces, bie nnia l Honor Aw a rds, e-ne w sl et t ers and edu c at ional p ro gr amming, Preser v a tion Te xa s is d e ve l o p ing a 2,400-acre far m and r anc h at t he headw at ers of the Little B r a z o s River near Ko sse, Texas as t he l argest p reser v at ion and c ons e r va tion s k i l l s t r aining cent er in t he co u nt r y.

OFFICERS ROMAN McALLEN PRESIDENT HOUSTON ROBERT BLUTHARDT VICE PRESIDENT SAN ANGELO CHARLENE ORR VICE PRESIDENT KAUFMAN KATHERINE SEALE VICE PRESIDENT DALLAS RON SIEBLER TREASURER DALLAS SUE MORRIS LAZARA SECRETARY LINDEN

DIRECTORS ANDREA BAREFIELD WACO BARBARA BRANNON SPUR ANTHONY CROSBY MARSHALL

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S LETTER While much of our day-to-day world is changing, our historic resources remain anchors in our communities and across the Texas landscape. We owe a debt to generations before us who invested their time and talent to save historic buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes, and who built the federal, state and local infrastructure to manage change in our physical environment.

The work of preservation is intellectual, physical, and bureaucratic. It requires flexibility, creativity, and resourcefulness, guided by experience and expertise. But whether you come to preservation as a professional, a volunteer, a property owner, or just as someone interested in historic places, there is always much to learn.

This newsletter is, in essence, a look back at 2019, not just at the work of Preservation Texas, but also at the work of preservationists across Texas who have accomplished so much. For every building that is saved, every historic place recognized with a marker or a National Register designation, every plan or program that is completed, countless hours across weeks, months and years were required for success.

We are all impatient to see our preservation work advance and we know that patience is required.

In our new world, we are learning to be patient. But we are also learning that historic landmarks anchor us, and we must renew our commitment to protecting them for generations to come ... and for ourselves.

MAX GROSSMAN EL PASO AUGUST HARRIS III AUSTIN DIXIE HOOVER MEXIA CHARLES JOHN SAN ANTONIO KATE JOHNSON KYLE

Evan R. Thompson Executive Director

KATHY RODRIGUEZ SAN ANTONIO

STAFF EVAN THOMPSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JANE ASHBURN PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Cover: A montage of popular 2019 Preservation Texas Instagram photographs. Follow us @PreservationTexas.

Left: Old Independence Cemetery in Independence (Washington County).

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Preservation Texas elected four new members to its Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting in Abilene on November 8, 2019.

They will serve an initial three-year term beginning on January 1, 2020. Members of the Board serve as volunteers and meet quarterly around the state; they are eligible to serve two consecutive three-year terms. Outgoing board members Ann Benson McGlone (President) and Rick Mitchell (Treasurer) were also recognized at the Abilene meeting for their six years of dedicated service to the organization.

ANDREA JACKSON BAREFIELD Andrea is the executive director of the Texas Brazos Trail Region and has been a member of Waco City Council since 2018. She previously served as Main Street manager for City Center Waco. Andrea is a graduate of Sam Houston State University and serves on the Waco ISD Foundation Board, Creative Waco Cultural Arts Task Force, NAACP Executive Committee as 2nd Vice President, Waco Civic Theatre Board, Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce Economic Development subcommittee, and Texas Downtown Association.

MAX GROSSMAN Max has been a professor of architectural history at the University of Texas at El Paso since 2009. He received his undergraduate degree from Berkeley and his graduate degrees in art history at Columbia.

He completed his dissertation on Italian civic architecture and urbanism in the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. He served for several years as vice chair of the El Paso County Historical Commission, is currently vice chair of the Texas Trost Society, and founded the El Paso History Alliance, a virtual cultural community with more than 52,000 followers online. Max has been a leading activist and litigant in the fight to save Duranguito, the oldest neighborhood in El Paso.

KATE JOHNSON Kate lives near Kyle (Hays County) on a ranch along the Blanco River. She is the chairman of the Ascension Seton Hays Foundation board and has served as chairman of the Hays County Historical Commission since 1999. She played an instrumental role in the restoration of the Katherine Anne Porter Childhood Home in Kyle, the Old Hays County Jail in San Marcos, the Winters-Wimberley House in Wimberley, and the Kyle Depot. She has served on the boards of the Wimberley Institute of Cultures, the Kyle Train Depot Committee, Old Town Kyle Advocates, and Preservation Associates, Inc., a county-wide nonprofit association devoted to the preservation of historic and cultural resources.

She also founded the Historic Bridge Foundation, a national nonprofit devoted to the preservation of historic bridges across the United States. She is the 2010 and 2020 recipient of the John Ben Shepperd Leadership Award.

CHARLENE ORR Charlene is returning to the board after a three-year hiatus. She is a past president of Preservation Texas and retired as executive director of Historic Mesquite at the end of 2019 after 24 years. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas and has served as chairman of the Kaufman County Historical Commission, the Friends of the Kaufman County Historical Commission, and the marker committee of the Dallas County Historical Commission. She was a founding member of the Texas Lakes Trail board where she served as treasurer. Charlene has consulted on a variety of preservation issues, including the drafting of preservation ordinances, creating outreach programs, working with city officials, preserving archives, photos and textiles, and writing collections management policies.

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CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF Virginia Savage McAlester Virginia Savage McAlester was born May 13, 1943.

She passed away on April 9, 2020 in Dallas at the age of 76. Her work as an activist resulted in the founding of the nonprofit now known as Preservation Dallas.

Beyond her work in Texas, the publication of her book A Field Guide to American Houses is regarded as one of the top ten outstanding reference books by the American Library Association. The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians called it “the best field guide to American residential architecture that has ever been published.”

Preservation Texas asked David Preziosi, Executive Director of Preservation Dallas, to share his thoughts and memories of the life of Virginia McAlester.

Way back when I was in college, I was required to purchase A Field Guide to American Houses for one of my preservation classes. Little did I know at the time that Virginia’s book would become a bible for me as I surveyed thousands of historic buildings during my career. My softcover version of the book is well-worn with a faded spine, curled cover and bent pages from constant use as a go-to source for determining and describing architectural styles.

When I moved to Dallas to take on the Executive Director role, there were several lunches and meetings set up for me to meet with different city leaders. When I was told about a lunch with Virginia, I asked you mean the Virginia McAlester? I had not known that she lived in Dallas and when I met her for lunch it was like meeting a rock star. I was completely awestruck with her during the entire lunch, not only for being the author of an incredibly important book in the preservation world but also learning about all of her important work here in Dallas with Swiss Avenue, Preservation Dallas, and Fair Park among many other efforts.

Since my first lunch with Virginia, my admiration for what she had done for the preservation movement in Dallas only grew. I can remember strategy sessions at her house plotting with others about how to address issues, receiving emails from her with great detail to use in advocacy efforts, and always knowing that she could rally the troops for an important public hearing.

The power she wielded was incredible and she was well respected in all circles. Many a time I stood with her in the City Council Chamber and always remember how her soft voice would fill the room and command the attention of all those present.

Virginia leaves us an incredible legacy with all that she has done in Dallas to preserve our precious historic places. She also left preservationists around the country an incredible gift: an amazing book that gives us the words to describe the places we so valiantly fight for every day. We will all miss Virginia and find comfort in the fact that her incredible legacy will inspire us for generations to come.

- David Preziosi Executive Director, Preservation Dallas

Photograph Credit: Elizabeth Levin.

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Preservation in Crisis?

As spring glides into summer and masks cover our faces outside, our world has drastically changed over the past few months.

Covid-19 has altered our lives, professional and otherwise, and we are all feeling its effects. But the field of preservation is inherently resilient. We are adapting with new strategies for virtual meetings, postponing events, and implementing social distancing at historic places. Read on to learn how conference organizers, preservation organizations, and the Texas Historical Commission are adapting to overcome these new challenges.

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Covid-19's Impact on Preservation Postponed National Conferences in Texas Many preservationists look forward to annual conferences and symposia to renew professional friendships and develop their expertise.This year,however,due to the effects of Covid-19,most of these events are being postponed or cancelled. Three major conferences were planned for Texas this Spring organized by the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF), the Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS), and Main Street America.

Here's how conference organizers are responding.

Vernacular Architecture Forum (San Antonio) The 2020 Vernacular Architecture Conference in San Antonio was planned for May 6-10, 2020. Dr. Brent Fortenberry, Assistant Professor of Architecture at Texas A&M and Associate Director of the Texas A&M Center for Heritage Conservation, said “Covid-19 has fundamentally altered the heritage tourism landscape and preservation efforts in Texas and nationwide.” he stated.

Dr. Fortenberry added that “the health and safety of Texas’ heritage stakeholders is the number one priority. Following CDC guidance, the Texas Conference Committee including Dr. Clifton Ellis (Texas Tech), Dr. Kenneth Hafertepe (Baylor University), and PT’s executive director Evan Thompson, choose to postpone for the safety of attendees.”

Technology will make it possible for conference papers to be presented virtually on its originally scheduled day (May 9, 2020). The field sessions to explore regional architecture have been rescheduled for May 19-22, 2021. All of the fieldwork associated with the conference is complete and will be published as a book edited by Dr. Fortenberry, published

by Texas A&M University Press in Fall 2020. "Be sure to pick up a copy for a preview of the amazing sites we will visit as a part of the 2021 conference."

Association of Gravestones Studies (Austin) At its meeting on April 4th, the AGS Board of Directors voted to postpone its 2020 Annual Conference until 2021.

Fortunately, the Board chose to keep the conference in Austin: “In the last few weeks, it has become clear that hosting a meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic is not feasible.

The current travel restrictions, economic uncertainties, and potential health risks are simply too great for the 2020 conference to take place.”

Conference organizer Dr. Perky Beisel, Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University, said that “like many other conferences, we have decided to postpone," concluding that no date has been set as of now for the 2021 conference, but noting that it will take place in the same location

.“AGS is so much about hands on experience and field trips.

So much of the conference’s success is the conversations that stem from those encounters.” She added that “a virtual conference just would not serve us well, though AGS is planning a series of webinar presentations for May 7th, 14th, and 21st. The organization is hoping to address the issues of Covid-19 through these virtual presentations. For the conference itself, we plan to continue with the same basic plan that would have been used this year.” Dr. Beisel shared that a pre-conference tour of Eastern and Central Texas would include Preservation Texas's Bassett Farms Conservancy in 2021.

Dr. Beisel also noted that “all those whose presentations have been accepted for 2020 will be automatically reaccepted in 2021,” with a call for additional papers going out as well.

“I am personally excited about the papers and sessions” she said. “I always learn things.” She also spoke about how the postponement could be seen as a positive. “I am hoping that this additional time will allow more people to learn about the conference, bringing in more presenters and attendees,” she said. Dr. Beisel hopes that “Texans will realize this is going on and will want to be involved.”

“The thing that struck me the first time I attended was how open and welcoming it is. It is fun and has a sense of community.” She spoke about how many attendees often work solo, so coming together for this conference has a festive feel. “They call it Cemetery Camp,” she added with a laugh.

Main Street America (Dallas) The Main Street Now Conference, originally scheduled for May 18-20, 2020 in Dallas, has been canceled. The organization released a statement: “The health and safety of conference attendees, speakers, staff, and the Dallas community is our highest priority.”

The statement continued: “We and our conference co-hosts, the Texas Historical Commission and Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, have been carefully monitoring updates from the CDC and the City of Dallas. Our decision to cancel the conference is based on their recommendations and emergency regulations.”

Conference organizers are “disappointed we won’t be able to see you all in Dallas this year. We look forward to the day when we can all gather together again, but in the meantime, we will work hard to support the Main Street Network during this unprecedented time.”

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Covid-19's Impact on Preservation Texas Historical Commission Preservation Texas asked Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of the Texas Historical Commission, to share how Covid-19 has affected the agency and what it means for the future.

the Governor declared a state of emergency for all Texas counties, we shut down our site’s grounds as well. The hardest part of that was not knowing when we would re-open.

"At Gov. Abbott’s order, all Texas Historical Commission staff in Austin have teleworked for a little over a month now if their work duties or projects supported it. It’s been a learning experience for everyone, but we were surprisingly well-prepared for it. While we have continued to have a number of employees in the office for various critical job duties, most Austin staff are teleworking and continue to do so. The staff has really stepped up and adapted well, and all of our core regulatory and other duties have continued.

"Today, we have re-opened just about all of our State Historic Sites in one way or another in alignment with the governor’s executive order to re-open the state. For our agency there really was no other option if we wanted to stay true to our mission, stakeholders and communities who rely on our sites for economic benefit. We really wanted all our sites to get back as close to normal operations as possible while ensuring the safety of our visitors and staff. It couldn’t have happened without the hard work and loyalty of all our site staff. We are grateful to work with them; their dedication is inspiring.

"At our 31 State Historic Sites, things were more complex.

We first closed visitor access to buildings, while keeping our sites’ grounds open at no cost to visitors, in alignment with examples from the National Parks Service. When

"We are happy to do our part to get the state back as closely as we can to normal operations."

- Mark Wolfe Executive Director, Texas Historical Commission

Covid-19's Impact on Preservation

Texas's HP Organizations and Businesses Covid-19 has interrupted the daily lives of most Texans, and all have experienced changes.

Preservation Texas is fortunate as we had already been working remotely, but in-person board meetings have transitioned online. Some hard decisions were required, however. We chose to sacrifice income by extending all memberships to the end of the year for free, knowing that many of our members are experiencing financial challenges during this public health crisis. We also are working on taking some of our events to the virtual stage. PT hopes that by continuing to be available to our members, that when the time comes, our members will continue to support us when they are able.

Preservation Houston is also working from home. They recently released a statement: “Preservation Houston is on the job, and we will continue working to turn great history and great ideas into great places. Although social distancing is the order of the day, we look forward to the time when Houstonians will again fill those great places.”

Abilene Preservation League has stopped providing access to the Elks Art Center and put into effect social distancing.

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Texas Dance Hall Preservation stated in a post online: “Our wonderful Texas Dance Halls are quiet now, but we are still working on ways to help support them through this difficult time. Like all of you, we here at TDHP are juggling the new reality and holding on until the day we can all go back to the halls together. In the meantime, stay safe, and maybe do a little two stepping around the living room.”

Preservation businesses are also being impacted. Preservation contractor Ron Siebler, a PT board member and owner of Siebler, Inc, spoke to PT staff about the hardships of Covid-19. “It depends on where you are,” he said. “In Dallas, the construction industry was considered essential. But many so-called maintenance items were not included on the list of essential activities.” This could be interpreted to mean that certain preservation-related tasks were deemed non-essential.

Siebler noted that OSHA has issued standards, though not all worksites are complying. “I am in the process of developing new work protocols and rethinking how to do my work," he said. Though Siebler is concerned about what the future holds, he is optimistic. “It’s all about adaptation.”

“History teaches perspective.

In the avalanche of words that rush over us now from the printed page and television, perspective is important ... You've got to be able to judge to live in a free society. History helps with your thinking. And three-dimension[al] history ... help[s] with that allimportant and life-enriching historical imagination."

- William Seale, 1939-2019

Texas historian and author

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2019 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES A district listing on the National Register of Historic Places is worth celebrating! Getting listed is no easy task. And not just any neighborhood can get listed. It is with hearty congratulations that we applaud these districts for this major accomplishment.

Historic preservation has not always recognized “districts” or neighborhoods as worthy of preserving. America’s earliest preservation efforts involved artifacts and individual buildings, usually patriotic in nature. That the National Register of Historic Places included the word “district” when it was created was deliberate. In fact, it was a directive from Congress and can be traced back to the progressive programs of Texan Lyndon B. Johnson's administration. Lady Bird Johnson took a special interest in historic preservation and beautification efforts. In 1965, she opened the White House Conference on Natural Beauty, and an outcome of that conference was the formation of a special committee for historic preservation and the book With Heritage So Rich.

At the time, the book was the most influential thinking on historic preservation and called for a broadening of the movement to include not just architecturally important

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places but also those of historic and cultural importance, and, that preservation must include neighborhoods as well as individual buildings: If the preservation movement is to be successful, it must go beyond saving bricks and mortar. It must go beyond saving occasional historic houses and opening museums.

It must be more than a cult of antiquarians. It must do more than revere a few precious national shrines. It must attempt to give a sense of orientation to our society, using structures and objects of the past to establish values of time and place.

It is also interesting to note that the word “district” was politically preferable to the word “neighborhood” to justify Federal grants made through the Secretary of the Interior for rehabilitation and exterior restoration and avoid conflict with existing neighborhood grants under the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for the removal of existing housing stock, as opposed to rehabilitating it. This marks the first time a municipality could access federal funding to improve housing as opposed to demolition.

- Katherine Seale Preservation Texas Board of Directors

Last year a new crop of historic resources in Texas were added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Register publicly signals a site’s importance to the cultural heritage. Some highlights from the 2019 class include three new historic districts: Central Brownsville Historic District contains 230 contributing buildings and 2 contributing sites over 76 acres in central Brownsville. Eight of these contributing buildings were already on the National Register. Brownsville is the seat of Cameron County and sits along the Rio Grande River and sits opposite the Mexican town of Matamoros.

The newly formed district contains a high concentration of commercial buildings dating from the late 19th to the mid 20th century of varying styles. The Central Brownsville Historic District will signal a new era of heritage tourism that will revitalize Brownsville and the wider border region of Texas. Local advocates RGVMod stated: “It is a great day when preservationists... don’t have to fight to save a building. When we don’t have to wage war against a city government or an entrepreneur. It is a great day when a city like Brownsville celebrates a historic district designation and the dawn of an economic revival”.

The Uvalde Historic District in Uvalde County west of San Antonio was also added to the National Register.

Covering 35 acres and 23 city blocks, the designated area comprises 78 contributing properties. The district was listed under Criterions A and C for its contribution to the broad patterns of our nation’s history and properties that embody a distinctive type, period, or method of construction respectively covering a period of significance from 1881– 1969.

Yoakum Commercial Historic District was also added to the National Register in 2019. The nomination was based on a survey of 25 square blocks downtown. In total, 152 buildings were surveyed with 132 of them making their way onto the register. The listing represents the culmination of a three-year effort by the Yoakum Economic Development Corporation to designate the town’s core on the register.

Reflecting on the listing, the corporation wrote: “The survey and nomination should be used to provide direction for the preservation of Yoakum’s historic assets, as a resource for building owners and investors, and as a tool that gives the community greater awareness and pride in its cultural assets.”

In addition to these new historic districts, a new mutliproperty nomination was added to the National Register for Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Depots, encompassing the growth of the system between 1873 and 1965. At its peak in 1955, the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway system operated over 1,800 miles of track, the second largest system in Texas. Fifty-one of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway Depots were included in this multi-property nomination contributing to Criterion A, B, C, and D of the National Register guidelines. These buildings greatly contribute to the economic, social, and architectural legacy of the US railway industry. The Alvin Depot, located in Brazoria County, was also added as an individual nomination that was also a part of the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Network. It was listed because it is an outstanding example of a “County-Seat” passenger depot. The building was completed in 1910.

Left: The historic opera house in Uvalde is a community icon.

Above: Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway depots, such as the one in Alvin, are included in a new National Register listing.

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2019 MAIN STREET UPDATE 10

Wolf ’s Department Store, Emancipation Avenue.

Courtesy of Roman McAllen

The Texas Main Street Program was introduced in 1980 as part of a then-novel idea to revitalize downtowns led

by Anice Read. Currently, eighty-nine Texas cities are participating in the program. Participation comes with many benefits, but being selected is not easy. Applicants must demonstrate the integrity of their historic fabric, as well as community support and financial capacity. Every year, the Texas Historical Commission may select up to five Texas cities for official Main Street designation. Once accepted, members are provided with a variety of strategic planning, capacity building, design services and in-person training.

In 2019, the Main Street Program inducted two Texas downtowns and one historic district into its program: Mesquite, Granger, and Emancipation Avenue in Houston's historic Third Ward, respectively. All three vary greatly in population density, but have one thing in common: a drive to sustain historic places.

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Mesquite Mesquite, with its population of 143,736, has grown to become a Dallas suburb. Incoporated in 1887, the town was the site of a famous train robbery by Sam Bass. Today the city is a bit more genteel, though they still celebrate their “outlaw” past.

Being named a Texas Main Street City is a big step for Mesquite. "This is extremely exciting news. It is the culmination of a large amount of hard work and dedication,” said City Manager Cliff Keheley in a local news article. The hope is that the designation is a "catalyst for the City to open up new doors of economic opportunities for Downtown Mesquite to attract businesses, plan new activities, promote heritage tourism and implement additional long-range initiatives to revitalize the area.”

Granger Granger is, by contrast, one of the smallest cities in the Main Street Program. Though Granger is home to just 1,650 people, the town has big plans. The push to join the Main Street Program began with efforts to preserve the Old City Hall. Erected in 1908-09, the building originally housed the Farmers State Bank. When the bank closed in 1926, the building became the Granger City Hall. An architectural focal point in the town, the building shows Moorish, Romanesque, and Italianate influences.

Mesquite (circa 1925).

Courtesy of the Dallas Library

The citizens of Granger hope that their induction into the Main Street Program will help them build an economically thriving downtown, one that will renew the prosperity the town enjoyed in the early 1900s. They know the road to that success will take work, but as one Texas Main Street representative told the local news station KVUE, Granger has “a great ability to be a regional destination.”

Emancipation Avenue in Houston’s Third Ward

Granger (circa 1910).

Courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission

Emancipation Avenue in Houston’s Third Ward has been designated a Texas Main Street. This is the first time that a street in a major city has been selected for the program.

When Houston was first incorporated in 1837, it was divided into four sections or wards. The southeast section became the Third Ward. Home to Emancipation Park, after the Civil War the neighborhood developed as a Freedom Colony. The historically and culturally rich AfricanAmerican neighborhood was listed on PT's 2019 Most Endangered Places list.

A task force has been developed to oversee the program: the Emancipation Economic Development Council (EEDC).

Using programming such as the Small Business Training Program and the Houston Anchor Collaborative, the EEDC is working to create “a resilient, dynamic, and economically prosperous community where people live, work, and thrive”

Emancipation Park (circa 1970).

Courtesy of the Houston Public Library

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2019 NEWS IN REVIEW

2019 NEWS IN REVIEW

2019 was a year filled with dramatic preservation successes and tragic architectural losses. Every other week, Preservation Texas chronicles news from around the state in its E-Reporter e-mails. The ten most popular stories last year range from the closing of a cultural landmark to the demolition of an endangered Houston-area landmark.

1. Balmorhea: Pool is closing again (September) Four miles separate the attraction from the city of Balmorhea, population 479. The historic swimming hole helped make the town known. Residents relied on it for tourism…

2.Waco: Chip and Joanna Gaines opening hotel in historic Grand Karem Shine building (October) Much of the interior of the three-story structure remains unchanged from 91 years ago, with decorative symbols of Freemasons and Shriners still adorning the foyer. Inside there is also a grand ballroom with room for hundreds...

3.Statewide: Six Texas state parks and historic sites transfer to Texas Historical Commission (August) The 86th Texas Legislature approved House Bill 1422 which transfers operational control of these sites to the THC….

8. Mineral Wells: Baker Hotel: remediation, laser drawings and new website (August) Remediation work, the submission of architectural laser drawings, and a new website are among the items currently at the forefront of the historic Baker Hotel renovation project…

9. Austin: Nearly century-old grocery store in East Austin to be rebuilt in the same spot (September) Known as the Tuke-Lyon Grocery Store and built in 1922, the building sat empty until recently...

10. Clear Lake: Here’s the history of the West Mansion that is being demolished (December) Demolition crews began tearing down the historic West Mansion, a 17,000 square-foot Italian Renaissance style house in Clear Lake...

4.Waco: Local couple acquires historic Water Works building in East Waco (August) Now, after a decade in mothballs, the early 20th-century brick building is set for a more businesslike future…

5. Austin: Restoration efforts to save one of Austin’s oldest structures uncovers untold history (September) When community members and local historians came to architectural specialist Tracy Hutson for her expertise to save the historic Zimmerman House (1854) in North Austin, the property was in a dire state of disrepair…

6.Westphalia: Historic 1895 Central Texas church burns to the ground ( July) Flames overtook the entire sanctuary, and smoke from it could be seen from five miles away…

7.San Antonio: Controversial landmark property near downtown didn’t excite preservationists (August) A history-making gay nightclub at 1122 N. St. Mary’s Street was torn down in favor of a parking lot...

This page: Balmorhea Pool, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle.

Right, top: The Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells.

Right, bottom: The Church of the Visitation in Westphalia (Falls County), courtesy of the Cameron Volunteer Fire Department.

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PT ADVOCACY NEWS

In September 2019, Preservation Texas submitted written comments on potential impacts to historic and cultural sites in the path of a proposed border wall and levee system along the lower Rio Grande.

The proposal called for approximately 52 miles of border wall in Starr County; approximately 24 miles in Hidalgo County; and approximately 19 miles in Cameron County.

The location would have direct, indirect and cumulative impacts on sites and areas designated as National Historic Landmarks, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, recognized as Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks, and included on Preservation Texas’ Most Endangered Places list. Some of these threatened resources included: Rio Grande City Historic District (Starr County) listed in 2004, the Roma Historic District listed in 2011, the Fort Brown Earthworks listed in 2017, and the La Lomita Historic District listed in 2019.

Impacted sites are of cultural heritage importance. For example, the 1874 Jackson Ranch Church and associated Eli Jackson Cemetery in Hidalgo County were sites used as part of the Texas Underground Railroad, sheltering enslaved

Right: Eli Jackson Cemetery, courtesy of Garet Bleir.

Opposite: La Lomita Chapel.

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THE RIO GRANDE LEVEE/ BORDER WALL

African-Americans en route to freedom in Mexico. Also, numerous archaeological sites associated with the region’s indigenous groups would be potentially destroyed.

The construction activities associated with the Levee/ Border Wall System, as well as site clearance necessary for the 150-foot enforcement zone, would disturb and destroy known and potential sites and areas of historic and traditional cultural significance, including buildings, structures, archaeological sites, and burial sites.

Construction of the Levee/Border Wall System would also limit, if not entirely exclude, public access to historic and traditional cultural sites including those of spiritual and ancestral significance to indigenous people.

Recent scholarship focused on communities of mixedrace people descended from African slaves and indigenous people in the Lower Rio Grande Valley has raised the need for continued exploration of the architectural and archaeological history of the region. It also makes plain the centrality of the Rio Grande in facilitating movement of peoples along and across the border, directly impacting the cultural landscape of the region.

In his unpublished essay "Hiding in Plain Sight: The Architecture of Communities of Color on the TexasTamaulipas Border" (2016), historian Stephen Fox notes that as early as the eighteenth century, what seemed to be an isolated Rio Grande region was “a cultural crossroads where the movement of peoples on an international scale, occasioned by European colonialism, resulted in the hybridization of cultural traditions. As a consequence of the Atlantic slave trade, African descended people preceded European descended communities on the Lower Rio Grande.�

The proposed border wall would massively disrupt heritage tourism in the border region, a major industry providing economic development opportunities and employment for its residents in a range of fields and in urban and rural communities, large and small. The Texas Historical Commission's Tropical Trail Heritage Region is an example of an effort to attract and sustain heritage tourism along the Rio Grande, an effort that would be undermined by a border wall.

Preservation Texas is committed to working with federal, state and local agencies and officials, organizations, residents, and other stakeholders to ensure that the historic and traditional cultural sites of the Lower Rio Grande Valley are preserved while protecting continued opportunities for heritage tourism and economic development through historic preservation for future generations.

- Evan Thompson Executive Director

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ENDANGERED FREEDOM COLONY:

Dabney Hill

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Dabney Hill is located in Burleson County, about twelve miles southwest of College Station. The centerpiece of the community was the Baptist Missionary Church sheltered down a quiet gravel road, barely half a mile from FM 60 West. Established in 1887 and built in 1905, the church stood the test of time for over a century. But in March of 2018, high winds weakened the roof where it didn't remove it completely. Care was taken at that time to preserve what remained. But in 2019, another storm toppled the bell tower.

Directly behind the church sits a historic Prince Hall Masonic Lodge. The Ethiopian Star Lodge is a two story wooden structure, painted inside with masonic colors. Buildings such as this one were used by Prince Hall Freemasons, a masonic order for African-American men. Prince Hall Freemasonry began in 1784 when fifteen free black men, led by Prince Hall, petitioned to join the Freemasons. Their first petition was denied, but eventually they were accepted into the Grand Lodge of Ireland with limitations. These limitations were heavily laden with racism, with white members having complete control and black members banned from advancing to higher ranks. The men then turned to the Grand Lodge of England, which, in 1787, allowed them to establish African Lodge No.1 with Prince Hall as its leader.

Gloria Lawsha Smith, a Dabney Hill descendant and researcher, has taken up the task of preserving Dabney Hill's legacy. Smith discovered her connection to the site through her own genealogical research. She began to follow the threads of the history that she was discovering, leading her to research not just her own ancestors, but the entire settlement’s history. It is through her tenacity that Preservation Texas was made aware of the site.

Preservation Texas’s Evan Thompson and Jane Ashburn have made several visits to Dabney Hill with Gloria Smith.

On one of the visits, the group discovered a honey bee hive that had taken up residence in the historic Lodge. As a result, Ashburn, a beekeeper, contacted the local beekeeping society and made plans for the removal of the bees.

Site visits with Smith facilitated interesting discussions about the site's history, as well as the architectural evidence left behind. “I saw things I hadn’t seen before,” Smith said. But with a small congregation and limited funds, it is unlikely that the church will be rebuilt. “The work I do,” she added, “it's for the future. Young people need a place. The site could be adaptively used. We hope to have a community center. I envision the site coming back to life" Smith knows that the road ahead is not going to be an easy one, and she is quick to tell you that she “sort of fell into” her position. However, if anyone can save this site, it is Gloria.

She has made contact with a preservation contractor, she has attended conferences in Austin and College Station to learn more about preservation, and has worked with Texas A&M's School of Architecture to document the physical fabric of the site.

As Smith works to raise needed funds for the stabilization of the Lodge and church ruins, her determination is contagious and her love of Dabney Hill shines through in all her work. “We still have a vision,” she said. “Everything we have done is pushing us forward. I will keep moving. I am not a quitter.”

- Jane Ashburn Program Coordinator

Opposite: The church steeple prior to its collapse.

Below: The historic two-story Lodge is located behind the ruins of the church at the heart of Dabney Hill Freedom Colony.

Following page: The staircase in the Lodge provides access to the second-story Masonic meeting room.

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Most Endangered Places News

TxDOT SETS ASIDE $500,000 FOR ENDANGERED AMARILLO HELIUM PLANT The nationally-significant Amarillo Helium Plant covers nearly twenty acres in Potter County on historic Route 66.

When completed in 1929, it was the world’s sole source for commercial helium and it became a center for helium research when production was moved elsewhere in 1943.

Congress directed the sale of the plant in 1996. It is privately owned today.

physical work. If those funds are not used within five years (2023), the funds become available through the Texas Preservation Trust Fund for preservation projects in and around Amarillo.

The Amarillo Helium Plant was included on Preservation Texas’s 2017 Most Endangered Places list not only because of demolition by neglect but because plans had been announced for the widening of an adjacent highway (Loop 335). The Texas Department of Transportation was required to take a number of steps to mitigate the effects of the project.

Additionally, because the highway expansion required the partial cancellation of a historic covenant on the property, TxDOT provided funds to THC to enable a comprehensive review of all of THC’s historic covenants and to develop best practices for their future management. TxDOT also sponsored the completion of a National Register nomination for the Amarillo Helium Plant and will be developing new interpretive signage on-site, printed materials for distribution at area visitor centers, and an interpretive website.

In 2018, the Texas Department of Transporation (TxDOT) and Texas Historical Commission (THC) signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that provided $500,000 for preservation planning and preservation work at the Amarillo Helium Plant. $200,000 is set aside to develop a master plan, while $300,000 is set aside for

Preservation Texas, as a consulting party, will encourage formal submission of the nomination by the owner to make the site eligible for the use of state and federal tax credits for restoration of the facility, as well as submission of an application to use the funds for a long-overdue preservation plan for this important industrial landmark.

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NOTES FROM THE FIELD The Importance of Photo Documentation

By Jeff Campbell

Last autumn we had the unfortunate experience of a tornado touching down and destroying two of our historic cemeteries (Young and Rowlett Creek Cemeteries) in Plano, Texas.

There was major tree damage and some of the gravestones were knocked over and damaged by high winds. Luckily, the tornado did not cause any major damage or injuries in the adjacent neighborhoods.

Fortune also shined on us when the City of Plano offered an emergency grant to restore both cemeteries. While it was obvious to see the tree damage in the two cemeteries, a question was raised: Were the gravestones damaged due to the storm or were they damaged from a pre-tornado incident?

Because we restored Young Cemetery two years ago, we had photo documentation of the gravestones there. Rowlett Creek Cemetery has not yet been restored, so we had a hard time assessing what was damaged by the storm. We used websites like Findagrave.com, partial documentation from the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and photographs we had taken for our book, Plano’s Historic Cemeteries, published by Arcaida Publishing Co. In December 2019, we received the emergency grant from the Plano City Council. All of the tree and debris work has

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been completed and the gravestone work will be finished in May. The incident has led us to start a comprehensive photo documentation project of our area’s historic cemeteries.

After we complete the initial photo documentation our plan is to conduct an annual site visit to see if anything has changed. Photo documentation is not only important for situations like a natural disaster but gravestones can also become damaged in other ways. Weathering over time, vandalism and even a car accident can damage gravestones.

Photo documentation is an excellent way to document what’s there and in the worst case scenario, what was there.

- Jeff Campbell Executive Director, Plano Conservancy

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P.O. Box 12832 Austin, Texas 78711

2021 HONOR AWARD NOMINATIONS OPEN JUNE 1 TO AUGUST 31 Visit www.PreservationTexas.org/HonorAwards

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